Three Little Words
by theoncomingfandom
Summary: Emma was late, rushing out the door at the last minute, when those three little worlds slipped out as she kissed Killian goodbye. The second she had stepped outside the apartment she realized what she had said and stopped dead in her tracks, panic rising in her chest as the words echoed in her mind. Serious CS fluff.


**I can't seem to get these two out of my head. And I all I want for my babies is to live happily ever after together. Which I know won't be the case on the show. So here's some fluff to help me coddle their young love. **

**Disclaimer: I don't own Once Upon a Time, I'm merely playing in their sandbox**.

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She's late.

She ran around the loft like a mad woman, scrambling to throw on a decent outfit and brush through her hair, trying not to look like she just woke up five minutes before running out the door, but _shit, shit, shit_, she was late. And Emma knew Regina would be none too pleased about being tardy for the lesson they had set up to work on Emma's magic. She could practically _hear_ the lecture about responsibility and commitment already.

Emma muttered curses under her breath as she pushed one arm through the sleeve of her jacket while she frantically tried to find her car keys at the same time.

"Where's the fire, Em?" David asked with amusement tinting his voice as he saw her rushing about.

"I'm late for a lesson with Regina! And where the hell did my damn keys go?!" she exclaimed.

"Check your coat pockets, love," Killian told calmly her as he filled a to-go cup with coffee and placed it on the counter for her.

Henry let out an amused snort as Emma pulled the keys from her pocket with a triumphant, "A ha!" Then she glanced at the clock again and let out a few more curses.

She tugged her coat the rest of the way on. "See you guys later. Love you," Emma said, waving at her parents where they sit at the kitchen table with baby Neal, eating breakfast. She rushed over to Henry, kissed the top of his head and hurriedly mumbled, "I love you". Emma grabbed the cup Killian made for her, reached up on her tip toes to kiss him quickly and distractedly said, "I love you," before she took off out the door, leaving a resounding thud in her wake.

The second she had stepped outside the apartment she realized what she had said and stopped dead in her tracks. Emma felt an overwhelming feeling of panic rise up in her chest instantly. Those three little words seemed to ring loudly in her ears on repeat. _I love you_.

In the last few months Killian and Emma were together, she had never mustered up the courage to say those words. She knew how _he _felt. He had been completely honest and upfront with her about it from the moment they first kissed in Neverland. That moment in the Echo Caves still resonated in her mind, over a year and a half later. And she knew she felt something _deeply _for Killian, but didn't know how to articulate it. She told him in the only way she knew how, with her kisses, in the way she held him when they made love, in the small little smiles and touches she threw his way. But she had never actually _said it_. Until now.

That part of her that feared commitment and letting people in wrote it off as a slip of the tongue. She had, after all, just said the same sentiment to her parents and son as she rushed out the door. But then that feeling of panic and her need to rationalize was suddenly replaced by shock... shock at how _right _the words felt, because she realized she did love him. The words had slipped out so easily because that's how their relationship was once Emma was brave enough to drop her carefully constructed walls, _easy. _

The past few months her and Killian spent together had been some of the best of her life. She had never felt more wanted and more loved in all her 29 years. It had started that night at Granny's after they returned from the past. When she realized all that he had done, all that he had sacrificed _for her_, Emma finally understood the depths of his feelings for her and could no longer deny the ones she had developed for the pirate.

In a way things didn't really change for them. Killian still flirted and teased, but now Emma wasn't nearly as hesitant to give it right back to him. They took their time with their budding relationship, spending more time together by getting dinner at Granny's, taking walks along the harbor, getting to know one another in a new way and exchanging gentle kisses that grew with passion over time.

Emma can't remember when the extra seat began to show up at the weekly family dinners, but she reveled in having Killian sit beside her as he would laugh and joke with the rest of Emma's family while he held her hand under the table, gently brushing his thumb across her skin. And Emma realized sometime after the perfect afternoon they spent together on the beach with Henry and her family and sometime before his toothbrush earned a permanent place beside hers on the bathroom counter, she had fallen in love with him.

She knew this man would do absolutely _anything_ for her and she realized with a start that she would too. Somehow this wonderful man had snuck his way into her life and into her heart and she _loved him_.

Emma turned around and shyly stuck her head through the door of the loft, looking at Killian. He was frozen in place, not having moved a muscle since she kissed him goodbye. Killian looked as astonished as she felt. She pressed a hand to her mouth as the words _I love you_ echoed in her head and a laugh bubbled up out of her chest as she wondered _'Why haven't I said it sooner?'_.

Emma strode across the room with purpose, dropping the coffee cup in her hand on the counter without taking her eyes off Killian. She grasped his face in her hands and kissed him like her life depended on it. It took a moment for Killian to catch up before his arms wrapped around her body and he kissed her with as much love as she knew he had always felt for her and she did the same.

They broke apart, foreheads pressed together, hearts beating a frantic staccato rhythm in their chests. Emma looked up into Killian's shining blue eyes. "I love you," she said as if she couldn't believe how true those words were.

Killian's grin lit up his whole face and cupped her cheek in his hand. "And I love you," he replied before kissing her breathless once more.

They broke apart when she heard Henry quietly mutter, "It's about time," as he moved to join his grandparents at the kitchen table to eat his breakfast. Emma blushed at their quiet chuckles, having forgotten they had an audience.

"Shut it, you three," Emma grumbled as she felt Killian's chest vibrate with his soft laughter beneath her hands. She glanced over at the clock and grimaced. "Crap. Now I'm _really _late. Regina's gonna kill me," Emma sighed.

She gave Killian one last smile, pressed her lips to his, whispered another, _I love you_, before running out the door again.

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**Reviews are much appreciated. **


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